The present invention relates to the field of machinery, and more particularly to machinery for repairing road surfaces.
Road surface defects, including cracks, potholes, sub-surface imperfections and other road nuisances, linked with road surface deficiencies, are experienced very frequently on highways, bridges and other paved surfaces such as airport runways or parking lots, especially where there is an extreme traffic pattern over the surfaces.
The center of attention regarding pavement engineering has changed from design and construction of new highways to preventive maintenance/treatment of the existing highways. A highway maintenance project is typically established on a visual condition survey. Regrettably, by the time indicators of corrosion are visible, major treatment is commonly necessary. If the inception of deterioration can be detected, the problem can often be resolved through preventive maintenance.
Traditional systems for renovating road surfaces necessitate a considerable quantity of labor-intensive activity to conduct the repairs. Even with this effort, the benefits of these repairs are sometimes short lived; the potholes, cracks, etc., appear again within a short period of time.
In addition to the problems of the road surface, motorists"" spend billions of dollars each year for front-end alignments, shock absorbers, tire balancing, tires, etc. Furthermore, the traditional means of repairing roads are overwhelming with respect to the amount of time the customary traffic patterns are interrupted.
What are needed are improved methods and machinery to more rapidly repair road conditions and with better quality, long lasting results.
The present invention is directed to robotic, modular machines, systems and methods for efficiently repairing road surfaces.
A robotic, modular road repair machine is disclosed to include a movable vehicle having at least one slot defined by predetermined dimensions designed to receive a work module; at least one work module having predetermined dimensions adapted to fit within each slot, means for robotically moving at least one work module between a working position and an inoperative position; and means for controlling the means for robotically moving and for controlling actuation of said the at least one work module.
The road repair machine may further include a plurality of said slots and a plurality of work modules, wherein each said slot has the same predetermined dimensions and each work module has substantially the same predetermined dimensions.
The work modules may be interchanged among various slots. The means for controlling keeps track of positions of the respective work modules for controlling actuation of the work modules and controlling movement of the work modules between working and inoperative positions.
At least two of the work modules may have different functions. Various work modules may be employed, including radar/seismic module, sawing module, drilling module, asphalt filling module, level sensing module, sweeping module, tack coat module, concrete filling module, digging module, grinder module, rolling module, surveying module and crack and joint sealing module.
A road repair machine as disclosed may further include a machine engine for driving movement of the road repair machine.
Further, the road repair machine may include at least one hopper for containing a road repair material to be delivered to at least one of the modules for filling defects; and means for conveying the repair material from the at least one hopper to the at least one module. The at least one hopper may also be modular and may be interchanged among various locations in the machine.
A liquid storage tank may be provided in the machine for supplying liquid to at least one of the modules; and means for transporting the liquid between the liquid storage tank and the at least one module may be provided.
A system for efficiently repairing road surfaces is disclosed to include a relatively large machine including a movable vehicle having multiple slots, each defined by predetermined dimensions designed to receive a work module; multiple work modules having predetermined dimensions adapted to fit within each slot, and wherein at least one of the modules comprises a surveying module; means for robotically moving the work modules between a working position and an inoperative position; and means for controlling the means for robotically moving and for controlling actuation of the work modules; and a relatively small machine including a movable vehicle having at least one slot defined by predetermined dimensions matching the predetermined dimensions of the slots included in the relatively large machine; wherein the surveying module may be removed from the large machine and placed in a slot of the small machine to conduct surveying operations prior to road repair, and then removed from the small machine and replaced in a slot of the large machine for use during road repair operations.
A method of efficiently repairing a road surface is disclosed to include providing an electronic map of regions of a road surface to be repaired to a controller on board a repair machine; providing multiple work modules in the repair machine, said work modules having various dedicated work functions; positioning the repair machine to optimize a number of work modules that may be actuated simultaneously to perform work functions along the road surface to be repaired; and robotically controlling the work modules to perform repair operations in accordance with the electronic map.
The work modules are received in slots in the repair machine, and may be interchanged to optimize functioning of the machine.
At least one of the modules may comprise a surveying module, such as a radar/seismic module, and the surveying module may be placed in a second, smaller vehicle, and used therein to survey the road surface to be repaired prior to conducting repair operations with the repair machine having multiple work modules.
The electronic map used by the repair machine having multiple work modules may be generated from readings taking during the surveying operation.
At least one hopper may be provided to contain road repair material, and a transfer rate of the road repair material to at least one module may be controlled.
Further, monitoring of the amount of road repair material remaining in at least one hopper may be conducted, and estimates of time remaining until the at least one hopper needs to be refilled may be made.
The method may further include placing markers along the road surface to be repaired, prior to surveying and repair operations, wherein the markers provide reference points for both vehicles during operations.
Work modules may be interchanged as to their slot positions to optimize simultaneous repair operations.
These and other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent to those persons skilled in the art upon reading the details of the XXX as more fully described below.